Suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimion Monday asked the Ethics Commission for a delay in his official misconduct case until after the November election, saying that having the Board of Supervisors decide his fate while five are up for re-election would deprive him of a fair hearing.

"A characteristic of due process is that the accused at least have the benefit of a neutral judge," said David Waggoner, one of the sheriff's attorneys. "The board's under tremendous political pressure."

Mirkarimi's attorneys cited the considerable media attention on the political pressure certain supervisors are facing, as well as a poll in which 51 percent of respondents said they would probably vote against a supervisor who voted for Mirkarimi.

"Sending this case to the board prior to the election is tantamount to telling a judge or jury that how they determine the outcome of a case will decide whether or not they get to keep their jobs," Waggoner wrote in the filing.

The filing came the same day Mirkarimi appeared before the Community Leadership Alliance, a group dedicated to improving the quality of life in the city.

"I've already taken responsibility; the punishment does not fit the crime," he said. "What has occurred does not disqualify me from being the elected sheriff."

The city attorney's office, which is representing Mayor Ed Leeas he seeks to oust the sheriff, opposes a delay.

"The charter establishes a clear process for official misconduct proceedings, and there is simply no provision to delay that process until the political climate is supposedly more favorable to one side or the other," city attorney spokesman Matt Dorseysaid.

The commission is expected to take up the request Tuesday when it also is slated to finalize its written findings in the matter after voting 4-1 Aug. 16 to find Mirkarimi had committed official misconduct when he grabbed his wife's arm, bruising it, during a Dec. 31 argument and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment in the matter.

Once the Ethics Commission transmits the full record of the hearing to the Board of Supervisors, supervisors have 30 days to decide the case or the sheriff will automatically be reinstated.

A metered response: A new parking meter fan club has sprouted in San Francisco to counter efforts by a grassroots campaign to slow or stop the city's plans to expand parking meter locations and hours.

Mario Tanev, a transit activist, has created an online petition at signon.org that he plans to present to the mayor, the Board of Supervisors and transportation agency officials showing that not everyone is against more meters.

"As residents and taxpayers of San Francisco we believe that the SFMTA's first and foremost responsibility is to improve Muni, bicycling, and walking and to make them a more desirable means of transportation," the petition states. "It is SFMTA's job to decrease congestion and single-occupancy traffic on its streets. It will also benefit drivers by setting market rates on parking, improving turnover, availability, and reducing congestion due to circling for parking."

He was giving a nod to SFpark, the city's experimental program that manages parking availability with demand-based pricing.

In addition to promoting the city's Transit First policy, adding more meters and increasing their hours of operation is expected to generate more revenue for the chronically cash-strapped agency, which also oversees transit, taxi, traffic control, and bike and pedestrian programs.

The petition, he said, is in direct response to the group ENUF (Eastern Neighborhoods United Front), which opposes the agency's plans to install thousands more meters, operate them later into the night and, starting Jan. 1, to eliminate free parking at meters on Sundays.

Tanev, a software engineer and Noe Valley resident who doesn't own a car, said he just wants to make sure that ENUF's voice is not the only one heard.

"I don't think people who believe in free parking are a dominant majority," he told City Insider. "I'm sure there are a lot of people in San Francisco who understand (the transportation agency's) plan, support it and would want to get their voice out there."